


Element of Darkness

by TheBitchyWitchling



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Everyone is at least a little bit gay, F/F, Jamie (Originale female character) using humor to cope, M/M, a lot of gay panic, also a lot of injuries and near death experiences, and my personal favorite...wings, basically an emotional rollercoaster, dorky everyone, drama but good ending I think, fighting to be the coolest, laura trying to be the mum, loadsssss of depression and healing together, lot of fluff and lot of smut, natasha being really flirty, pepper being the mom, tony acting like a dad, wanda dealing with trauma, we'll see what will happen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-13
Updated: 2021-03-19
Packaged: 2021-03-21 11:00:53
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,486
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30020769
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheBitchyWitchling/pseuds/TheBitchyWitchling
Summary: Plays after endgame but with a few changes so Tony and Natasha are still alive.Jamie's life rapidly changes with the Blip, as she gets hit by lightning the same day and it changes her...idk how to write summaries but read the tags and then you'll kinda know
Relationships: Natasha Romanov & Original Female Character(s), Peter Parker & Originale Character(s), Pietro Maximoff & Wanda Maximoff, Wanda Maximoff & Avengers Team, Wanda Maximoff & Natasha Romanov, Wanda Maximoff & Peter Parker, Wanda Maximoff/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 11





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Wanda Maximoff who is the love of my life (yep she really is) and my best friend](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=Wanda+Maximoff+who+is+the+love+of+my+life+%28yep+she+really+is%29+and+my+best+friend).



> Okay so I have never really written anything before and I am also not a native english speaker so if I make any mistakes, It'd be great if you'd tell me and well yea I hope you guys like it and I hope I won't loose the motivation to finish this :)  
> This will play right after Endgame but I made a few changes so we can have Tony and Nat in it.  
> Tony was not the one to use the gauntlet to snap but Carol did instead. It burnt her arm badly and broke multiple of her bones but she is healing.  
> Also when Steve went back in time to bring back the Infinity Stones in Vormir after he gave the Soul stone back (and was like yk, extremely emotional) he heard Natasha say "They send the fossile to get me back?" and well yea they hugged and all and he came back home with her (if you think of that scene when we waited for Steve to show up), so two people appeared in that 'portal' again instead of no one.  
> And also, this should be the last thing, Wanda and Vison are NOT dating, they are platonic soul(mind)mates and they were together though when they were attacked in Infinity War and Wanda was emotionally attached to him clearly, considering how he was her only real emotional support, but yea you will see later too.

She runs down the dark street, not knowing if tears or the rain is what is streaming down her face. A stray thunderbolt crashes down not too far away from her. She flinches but keeps on running, not letting the pain in her stomach take control. Jamie's legs feel like they are about to give in at any second. They tremble more with every stride until she reaches an open and empty crossroad then falls down, her uninjured shoulder hitting the asphalt. 

Her body shudders in the combined pain of the cold and impact against the wet ground. Pain races through her entire body, reminding her of the gruesome gash deep in her belly. Jamie lays her head down onto the ground and cries out painful sobs of panic. Wrapping her arms around her body, she notices how cold it is for the first time. She stays lying on the ground for a few more seconds and tries to catch her breath before she looks up and realises how quiet it is. No one is around. No car is driving. No one is walking outside. No lights are on in any home. 

She holds her shoulder and stands up slowly again, legs shaking as her whole body protests. She forces the pain down and looks around, with wet hair sticking to her pale face. Jamie turns around sluggishly, inhaling deeply before she looks down to inspect the wound in her belly. One moment she is inspecting the gash, and in the next, the whole world is lit up. As if in slow motion, pain hits her neck, then shooting its way down her body, so intensely that she had the feeling like she was on fire - like her skin was being torn off and all of her bones were being pulverised at the same time. 

The next second, it is all over. Her eyes become heavy as she falls down once more and the world disappears.


	2. Family

Jamie wakes up as a stray beam of sunlight hits her eyes from her window and she turns in her bed, yawning, stretching her arms when a sharp pain slices through her shoulder and she stops immediately, wincing. She blinks as she tries to make sense of what is going on and what has happened. She sits up, listening closely, hearing cars from outside and... laughing from the living room? 

Jamie jumps up and grabs a sweater to pull it over her head as she walks down the stairs to see her whole family sitting at the table eating breakfast. "What-- what is going on?" She asks. 

Both of her parents turn their heads to look at Jamie, who appears more confused than she ever did in her whole life. 

"Jay!" Willow exclaims and throws her arms up with wide eyes, trying to show her that their parents are back. She is so excited that it makes her look more like the young child she is. "Mum and Dad are back!" She looks so happy that Jamie just has to smile at her.

"Yeah. I can see that...,'' Jamie responds, leaning on the wall instead of walking closer to sit down at the table. "How?" She just asks, waiting for an explanation. 

Her father furrows his eyebrows and looks at her sceptical, scanning her body.

"Yes, I am not dead. Thanks for caring, father," Jamie snaps at him. 

He stands up in one swift motion, looking down at her, but is being held back by his wife’s, her mother’s, hand lying on his arm. 

"Please, Jamie," her mum whispers pleadingly. "Can we please talk?" 

Jamie looks at her shortly and sees the tears in her eyes so she nods, allowing her mum to continue. Jaime looks back at her father and crosses her arms in front of her chest, smiling sweetly. He keeps his eyes on Jamie for a few more seconds before he sits back down and proceeds to ignore her. 

Willow looks around puzzled before she gets excited again about what happened last night. "The Avengers won!" she yells before she gets interrupted by their mother.

"Willow, please..." She says seriously and just looks at Jamie's younger sister, who is now quietly sitting on her chair. "They call it the Blip." Her mother looks back at Jamie now. "The Avengers discovered time travel and were able to get all the people who ‘died’, or rather, disappeared, five years ago back." 

Now, it's Jamie's time to furrow her eyebrows. "So, why di--" she tries to say, but also gets interrupted.

"You have to understand, Jamie," her mum tries to look into Jamie's eyes, but she dodges her gaze. "This is really messed up to us, too. We know five years have passed for you, but no time passed for us. It was yesterday when you were still twelve and Willow was only four. And now... you are all grown into a young woman and Willow already is so mature and.... and we weren't here to see any of it. Nothing has changed for us, but everything  _ has _ changed!" She tears up and looks at her children sadly. "You have no idea how sad I am to see how I couldn't have been here for the last few years." 

Willow nods her head rapidly while Jamie is still a little bit sceptical. 

"So... All of them are back now? Just like that?  _ Everyone? _ " 

"Did you not listen, child?" Her father raises his voice. "Yes, everyone is back. No, no one has any idea what happened. Deal with it!" 

Jamie opens her mouth to say something back, but at the last moment decides against it and just smiles at them. "Happy to have you back. I am sure Willow wants to tell you two a lot about what happened, so I won't interrupt." She pushes herself off the wall and walks into the kitchen to look for something to eat. She opens the fridge, looks in it, closes it again, and grabs an apple instead. 

Back in the living room, her sister turns and smiles at her when she walks back in with the apple in her mouth. Jamie waves at her shortly and lets her keep on telling her stories in a really exaggerated way. When Willow says she had lost her first teeth because we pulled them out, it makes Jamie huff. Willow actually had walked against a door and her tooth fell off. 

Jamie sits down on the couch and takes out her phone to check the news and it's right what her parents said. Half of the population is back as if nothing has happened, but it did. So much has happened and her parents act like she wasn't the one to have raised her little sister for the last few years. They are just going back to being 'great' parents. Jamie looks over her shoulder at them, looking like a happy and full family of three. A notification brings her back to reality, it is an e-mail by the school, explaining what will happen from now on. 

_ 'Wow, they moved fast,'  _ she thinks to herself while tapping it to open. 

She scrolls bored through the really long email until a big  **IMPORTANT** catches her eye. "Every student who was unaffected by the Blip will be matched with one who has. Which means, for unaffected students, you will have the responsibility to help one of the returned (from the grade under yours) for the rest of the semester. Senior students, who were affected, will be matched to a teacher to get help, while Freshman, who haven't been affected by the Blip, will not be matched to anyone. You will find a list down below with the name and locker number of your assigned returning student. You will need to meet them at 8am at their locker...." She reads to herself quietly and then scrolls even farther down, not finishing the announcement, to find the attached document. 

Every student will just go back to school like nothing has happened, same with the teachers. We only had half as many in the school and now that everyone is back it's gonna be full again. And they want to start tomorrow immediately. 

The download takes longer than anticipated and her leg bounces on the floor while she waits. Once it loads, she searches for her name in the senior student list.  _ Who is going to be the junior she is assigned to? _

"Jamie Luar... Jamie Luar... Ah! Who is Peter Parker?" She notices how she has been talking to herself and gets quiet again, taking a screenshot of the screen to not forget the locker number. 

"Hey, guys?" Jamie turns around to face her parents. "So, I have school tomorrow and I haven't gotten an e-mail or any notification from Willow’s school yet, but I am sure you will take care of that, right?" She smiles at them very sweetly and her father looks at her confused, but her mother smiles.

"Yes, we will, darling. You can be a kid now again. Be free, go out, have fun, whatever you want." 

"Thanks, mum," Jamie's smile grows a little softer.

"Is that okay for you, Will? That I leave you with them tomorrow?" 

Willow starts grinning a lot and bops her head. "Yes, yes, yes, yes! Mum and Dad can take care of me now and you don't have to anymore!" 

"Okay...." Jamie rounds the table and gives her sister a quick kiss on her head. "I would like to shower now if that is okay. Then afterwards, we can talk about her school and everything else?" 

Her mum nods and smiles thankfully, while… well, she doesn't know what her dad does because she doesn't look at him. She walks upstairs, back into her room to get some clothes then locks herself in the bathroom.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so I have already written the next 2 chapters, they just need to be proof written by a friend of mine and once that is done you will get more :)


	3. Some wounds never heal

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys like it, please bear with m, I have a plan ;)  
> Tell me what you think in the comments

Finally alone, Jamie sighs and slides down the wall, exhausted.  _ 'What the fuck just happened?!' _ Her parents are now back and just taking over again? They want her to be a little kid who loves her parents without questioning anything they do  _ again? _

Well, guess what. That's not going to happen. She raised her sister on her own completely fine and if they want to help they can try their best, but they don't know Willow like Jamie does. And if they plan to raise Willow the same way they raised her, then she'd rather not have them around at all. 

Jamie sighs again before she stands up and looks into the mirror. Considering how bad she has slept and what happened the night before she actually looks pretty decent. Her brown hair is a mess, but when is it not? She looks down and slowly lifts her shirt up to see how bad her belly looks. 

"Fuck, how?" she whispers as she realises the wound has mostly healed already, even though she was only stabbed the night before. She pulls the sweater over her head and sees how the injury on her shoulder looks about the same as the one in her belly. Only the shoulder she fell down on yesterday looks like what she expected it to look like. Bruised all over, her fall on the street really wasn't so nice and now it has taken a beautiful purple colour. She tries to rotate her shoulder but stops in her tracks as it is really hard to move it. 

She takes off the rest of her clothes carefully and steps into the shower to try to get a hold of her thoughts and what might have happened. Jamie turns on the water and waits before it is hot to step under it. She feels her skin burn and turns red almost immediately underneath it. Now, slowly relaxing, she lets her thoughts run free. 

She was stabbed and ran away. Ran and ran and ran and then what? What happened afterwards? She was bleeding badly, it stormed outside, and this morning Jamie just woke up in her bed, cleaned and with fresh clothes on? How did she get back? Why does she not remember how she got back? How did her injuries heal so much if just a few hours have passed? It doesn't make any sense, but it can not just have happened in her mind, she wouldn't be injured at all if it would have. 

The water runs down her face for a few more seconds before she starts washing herself and finishes up quickly. Jamie wraps a towel around her body and then one around her hair. When she moves to grab her toothbrush, she notices something in the mirror out of the corner of her eye. She looks back into it and sees how not only her shoulder has changed in colour but the back of her neck has too. She grabs a small mirror to hold it behind her neck and gasps at the reflection. The middle of her neck has taken a weird red brownish colour but multiple red-ish lines extend from it, forming something that looks like lightning on her nape. 

"Holy shit!" she exclaims. 

This can not just have appeared on her from nowhere, this would have to mean that she was hit by lightning. It would explain why everything was so bright for that second when her whole body felt like bursting. It just still doesn't explain how she got back home. But Jamie isn't stupid, she has watched Avatar: The Last Airbender, she knows that when someone is hit by lightning there is a bruise at the place where you are hit by the lightning and one where it leaves your body again. 

She dries herself as quickly as possible without inflicting too much pain from moving and scans her body to find the leaving point. It wasn't so hard to find as it is in her ankle, only looking like a bad bruise, but it proves that it is true, and she has been hit by lightning. Stabbed and hit by lightning in the same hour. Oh wow, how much luck she has. For a millisecond she thought of telling her parents crosses Jamie's mind, but that is probably the stupidest thing she could do. Especially because almost everything that has happened is their fault. 

A picture flashes into her mind, she pinches her palm to not think about it. Breathing in and out slowly, she starts to dress herself and combs her hair before then going back down to talk to her parents.  _ That's gonna be a lot of fun. _ She rolls her eyes and puts on a smile. 

"I’m back," she says and sits down next to her little sister. 

"How was the shower?" her mum looks at her expectantly, who clearly tries to be as normal as she could be. 

"Very nice," Jamie smiles at her mother and clears her throat. "So, we need to talk about Willow's life, I would guess." 

Her mother nods and her father just stares at her without any real expression on his face. 

"She attends Grand Central Parkway, 4th grade, almost top of her class, the teachers all love her." 

Their mum has taken a pen and paper and quickly writes down some notes as Jamie explains what they would have to take care of if they want to be Willow's parents again. Her mum's paper fills up and she nods from time to time while Jamie is talking. Willow got bored and pulled their father away from the table to show him some of the things she has made. My mum and I exchanged phone numbers and email addresses and I gave her the one from Willow's school so she could text them to take over again. 

Yes, Willow might be her sister and Jamie was the one to raise her, but if her parents feel like they could do this all from one day to the next she won't complain. 

"Mum, you will take care of getting a job again and the bills, right? After all, I am still a kid, I should be careless and free, right?” She smiles sweetly at her mother. 

"Yes, of course honey. You can go out all you want, but I need to know where you are going, understood? You can get back the lost years of your childhood." 

Jamie is surprised that her mum actually believed what she just said, even though it was so obviously a lie. "Well then," she looks at her father shortly who didn't say a single word to her since she came back. "I am gonna go back to my room and you can talk all you want." 

"Okay, sweetheart," her mum responds. "Just tell me when you are going out if you choose to do so." 

"I will." Jamie promises and winks at her little sister, "Have fun."


	4. Fire

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TRIGGER WARNING: ab*se 
> 
> Also hehehe I am excited about what you will find out in the next chapter ;)
> 
> I am already writing chapter 7, chapter 5 will be put on here once my beta reader read over it(which should be today and it is the 19th march). And it is a long one. All of the coming ones are long ones ;)

_ "No! Don't touch me, please! Dad!" I ran through the hallway, trying to get into my room before he could reach me. My sister's cries came from her room, she heard our father yelling and can't sleep. Right when I reached my door, I got yanked back by my hair and my father pushed me into the wall in my room, slapping me right across my face. _

_ "Don't you hear what you did? Your sister can't sleep! And it's your fault!" He pushed me into the wall again and my shoulder bursts in pain-- _

Jamie wakes up, gasping loudly, her eyes wide open and the sensation in her shoulder becomes more and more painful. She sits up and cries out loud when she notices the pain comes from her right shoulder being covered in flames. For a second, she can’t move and simply stares at the flames, stunned at how they dance over her body just before the pain floods her back to reality.

"Ugh," she screams, tears forcing themselves into her eyes. She runs into the bathroom as quick as she can and turns on the water in the shower and sighs.  _ 'Fuck! What the hell is going on?! How did I catch on fire?' _

The water feels good on her skin, but it's not enough to ignore the pain. Jamie's t-shirt hangs loosely from one of her shoulders, the other side being burnt off. "Thank gods for adrenaline, otherwise I'd be dying right now," she whispers and closes her eyes, almost falling back to sleep in the shower. She turns off the water and steps out of the shower to look into the mirror and inspect her back again. She can't call the hospital, she'd need to explain what has happened and she can't even do that in the slightest.

Jamie walks back into her room and grabs her phone, dialing Dyari without a second thought, "Dy, I need your help." 

She can hear him groan on the other side of the line and then movement after a second. "I am on my way. I'll be there in a few.” 

“Thanks,'' she whispers and lays down on her stomach. "Love you." 

"Love you too, Jams," he responds worried, he knows something is wrong. "Everything will be fine, okay?" 

"Okay," Jamie answers quietly and closes her eyes. "See you in a bit." 

The minutes fly by as if they were nothing and someone walks into her room after what feels like fifteen seconds. "Fuck Jamie, what happened?" 

She groans and tries to turn around but Dyari stops her. 

"Don't move, you’re hurt." He kneels down besides her bed and lifts her head slowly to look into her eyes, which are red and swollen. He kisses her forehead. "I will look up what to do but tell me if I am wrong; this looks like a burn?" 

Jamie nods slowly and closes her eyes again, leaning onto him. 

"Okay, honey, it will all be alright soon enough." He takes out his phone and googles what to do when you burnt yourself to the degree Jamie did. About every website advised them to go to the hospital, but Dyari knows that if Jamie could go there she immediately would have. "Okay, so, the way it looks, surgery is actually what would be best..." She groans and he just ignores it and keeps talking, "So, all we can do from here is either you let me,  _ a completely unprofessional _ , try to pull away the dead skin from the wound,  _ or _ we can only put an ointment on it, though..." 

"Yes, I know you want me to go to a hospital, but I can't." Jamie mutters through the pillow. "I'll choose option one. Pull that shit off. But, give me some painkillers before." She knows he nods even though she can't see him doing so. 

"I'll be back in a sec," He whispers, standing up and just like he said, after a few seconds he is back, holding a pair of tweezers and some other stuff Jamie can't really make out. "Here are your painkillers," he says softly, opening the bottle before handing three pills to her. 

She swallows them quickly and lays back down. "Sorry," she whispers, looking at him, but he just shakes his head and smiles sweetly. 

"Alright, I'll cut the sweater open, okay? It's not like I haven't seen any of this before." 

Jamie chuckles, "I would hit you right now if I could." 

"Yeah, but you can't," he grins back and with one swift motion her sweater divided in half and pulled off of her.

"Fuck, Dy! That shit stuck to my back." 

His grin left his face, "This way it was only one quick and short pain instead of long and slowly..." His eyes are stuck on her back but he inhales deeply and grabs the pair of tweezers and leans over Jamie. "You need to tell me what happened to you, okay?" He started without hesitation and Jamie bites into the pillow to not groan or scream and nods. He notices how painful it must be for her, that he is literally pulling skin off her body and stops in his tracks. "I am sorry, Jams. I'll try my best to get done with it quickly." 

Jamie nods again and just bites into the pillow harder. 

After what felt like hours, Dy leans back and sighs. "I have no clue if what I did was right in any way, but I can't do more now. Now, just the ointment and then wrap it up. You are lucky you have those special bandages that are meant for burns." 

Jamie spits out the pillow and turns to face Dy again. "I am  _ not _ lucky, I am just prepared for everything." 

Dyari chuckles and opens the tube  and carefully rubs the ointment on the burn.

Jamie's body visibly relaxes. "This feels amazing," she breathes out as the pain finally eases a little bit. 

"You need to sit up now, darling." She pushes herself off the bed and with Dy's help, finally sits up straight. With him, she doesn't feel like she needs to hide anything, not her body, not her scars, not her thoughts. He looks at the bandages in his hands before looking at her bare chest and back, thinking of how to wrap Jamie up. "I'll probably have to wrap this around your whole upper body." 

She nods and lifts her arm slightly to help him. After a few minutes it holds and the pressure the bandage puts on her wound actually eases the pain. Her whole shoulder is now covered, as are parts of her neck, arm, and back. Jamie can barely hold her eyes open, so Dy stands up and pulls a T-shirt onto her. He lays down on the bed, pulling her onto him carefully so that she wouldn't lay on any wound. She hugs his body in comfort before he then pulls the blanket over them. 

"Before you go to sleep," Dy whispers into her ear. "You are stubborn enough to still go to school tomorrow even if you were to pass out or not, am I right?" 

Jamie nods with her eyes closed. "Hmm, and I know that you don't approve. I also know that we both know you can't change anything about it." 

Dy sighs in defeat and rolls his eyes. "Okay, then, your parents are back right?" 

She hums in response. 

"I will climb out of the window tomorrow, then.  _ How exciting _ . But go to sleep now, I'll wake you up later." Jamie barely hears him anymore, she already dozed off. Dy shakes his head in disbelief but smiles and closes his eyes to try to get enough sleep to not feel like the living dead in the morning.


	5. Back to school

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> told you it would be longer lol. I know it is immature af but I am really trying to get either 4.20k words or 6.9 words for a chapter. But I will definitely have reached a milestone when we get to 42.0k or 69k for this fanfiction and I am sure we will get there.   
> do you have any ideas of what will happen next?

The next morning actually went better than expected. Her mum woke up early to make breakfast for everyone and Dyari woke up even earlier to hide in Jamie's closet; both were already fully dressed. Once she got ready and used to her body being so sore, she walks downstairs and he climbs through the window to wait for her in his car. 

Jamie's mum wanted her to sit down, but she got free of her by explaining that she has to get to school quickly or she would get there too late. She grabs some food before running out and walks over to Dy's car. He leans over in his seat to open the door for her and she throws her lunch on his lap. 

"Ooh, being paid with food, this is how I like it." Dy grins sweetly at her and she stands in the door, rolling her eyes. 

"Bitch, you are getting paid with my love. You got that food because I will most definitely puke if I look at it. Now, can you help me up in your jeep?" He gets out to her side and hoists her up. She grunts but says nothing. Dy looks at her worriedly until she snaps her fingers in front of his face. "What are you waiting for? Get back in and drive." 

"Oh, how I missed your coldness last night," He sighs, getting back in and starts the car. The ride wasn't long, and they spent it quietly, only music playing through the radio. He parks the car at his usual parking slot, relieved that it was still free even though the school was filling up quickly. 

So many more students are walking around. Neither one of them says anything, nor are they stepping out of his car. "So... how did we just survive this ride with only listening to the radio? That's horrible--" 

"Jamie, please," Dy interrupts her and tries to get her to look at him. "I know that you will talk whenever you feel like it, but you can't just go on with a smile on your face." 

She tilts her head and smiles at him, "Watch me." 

"I have never seen a smile that looks more fake than this one." He smiles back sadly. 

"Yes, but that is only because you know me. They don't." Jamie tilts her head towards the school. 

"Are you sure you want to go in there? We can just skip school." 

"No." She shakes her head. "There are some juniors waiting for us." 

Dy sighs again but nods, jumping out of the car and rounds to the other side to help Jamie out. He knows the only reason she is going to school today is because she can't deal with more interruptions in her daily life. Usually she wouldn't have minded skipping school and getting high at some random place, which is what they love to do. But he understands she can't do this today, so he walks particularly close to her, if she might need someone to hold on to. 

Walking into the school, it is louder than they are used to. The halls are full, students greeting each other, friends being happy to be back and together. Dy pulls Jamie a little closer, and she pinches his ribs to show that she doesn't need protection, but he doesn't care. Jamie doesn't walk away from him either. 

"I need to get to locker 2543..." 

"That shouldn't be too far away from mine. I have to go to 1998. That is a little closer to here, so what about if we get my junior first, and then meet up with yours?" 

"Dy, you don't need to protect me." She looks at him, annoyed. "I know you are worried and all, but I am fine on my own." 

"I know that, Jamie," he looks deep into her eyes. "But you don't need to. You don't need to be on your own. Let me be there for you, because I want to be." 

She looks down at her shoes and bites her lip, "Just don't be too much, Dy. Only because I feel like I am dying and my body looks like it, doesn't mean I want help." 

He nods, "Okay... It's almost 8 am so we should get there." 

They found a compromise and Dy brought her to locker 2543 before walking to the one he has to go and kisses her cheek as goodbye. Waiting in front of the locker, she closes her eyes, still tired. She doesn't know if she has fooled Dyari or not. She feels just so immensely exhausted. 

"Hello?" Her thoughts being interrupted by a guy’s voice from behind her. "Excuse me, but that is my locker." That makes Jamie turn around and face him, who also evidently turns out to be a cute-looking guy. 

"Oh, are you Peter Parker?" 

"Yes, I am," His smile lightens up his face. "You must be Jamie Luar then?" He questions kindly. 

"That's me," She smiles right back. "Here to show you what has changed in the last five years." 

"Sounds exciting," He exclaims. "Where are we going to start?" 

"Oh, ehm… could we wait for a minute?" Jamie looks back down at her shoes. "Someone wants to come here with his assigned junior, so we can have this 'tour' together." 

"Sounds amazing," he responds excitedly, which makes her smile at him. 

"Shouldn't take too long. He said he'd be here as quick as he can." 

Peter nods and starts rambling about some new tech he found, being fascinated by how much has changed in the last few years. If this is how he talks to strangers, how does he act around his friends. 

Luckily, Jamie doesn't have to pay attention to him for too long, not like she could anyway, because Dy walks around the corner with some dude following behind. "Told you I won't be gone for long." He smiles at Jamie and turns around to introduce the other person with him. "This is Vincent." 

"Vince," he interrupts and Dy nods. 

"Sorry, Vince. So, where do you two want to start the tour?" 

The tour goes pretty nicely, both of them obviously still know the school, the last time they have been here was 2 days ago - for them at least. Not much has changed, especially because most things will go back to before. There isn't really anything they could show. So, only 30 minutes later, they plan to part ways to get to class. 

Peter examines his new schedule and looks up, "Hey guys... could it be that we have our P.E. class together?" 

Jamie nods, but Dy is the one to answer, "Maybe... if it is Mr. Wilson who teaches your class." 

"Yes, it is!" Peter yells happily. "So, we will see each other later again!" 

Dy chuckles and grins at him, "Looks like it. But we got to go now. See you later." He winks at Peter and leads Jamie to their second period class. 

"Did you really have to flirt with him?" She asks him while walking into their classroom. 

"He’s cute," Dy shrugs, which makes Jamie roll her eyes. He grins. "You're just jealous that I got game," He also winks at her and she groans, sitting down on her chair. 

"Pay attention to class, asshole." He grins even more and gives her a kiss on the cheek. 

"Take it somewhere else, lovebirds" Their teacher interrupts them and they both roll their eyes. 

Even though the school was full of students again, the day seemed pretty normal. Dy and Jamie kept to themselves mostly until the lunch break, when Peter decides to just sit down next to them. 

"So, how were your classes?" He asked, looking as if he would really be interested in it. 

"Boring," Jamie mutters. 

"Weird," Dy says at the same time. 

Peter and Jamie both look at him in question.

"Well, it's just really new that the school is so full and loud. A lot of new faces and few have been looking at us." 

Jamie tilts her head in confusion. "What are you talking about?" 

"Yeah, they’ve been looking at us. They are probably wondering why such a handsome-looking guy like me would spend time with… well, you." He shrugs and smirks at Jamie over the table. 

"Hey!" Peter nudges him. "That's not nice. Also, both of you are really nice looking." 

Dyari blushes and looks away while Jamie just grins at him. 

"Thanks for pushing him for saying that bullshit." 

Peter laughs and someone new sits down next to Jamie. "Who are you?" She looks at him confused. 

"Oh, this is Ned! Ned, this is Jamie, and this is Dyari." Peter explains and Ned waves at them, clearly nervous. 

"Oh, you don't need to be scared, Ned. I don't bite." Jamie tries to smile at him genuinely to ease his nerves. 

"Only sometimes," Dy adds, and Peter laughs loudly. 

Ned looks now more confused than he did before. 

"Yeah, he likes it when I bite," Jamie smirks at Dy and licks her lips, which makes him groan. 

"I— I— I think we are already gonna go to the gym," Peter stutters quietly. "So, you two can be alone for a little." 

The two boys quickly stand up and grab their bags to go. 

"Those people are weird," Ned whispers to Peter after they walked away. Jamie can hear it nonetheless and starts laughing loudly, tears forcing their way through her eyelids as it hurts to move. 

"What are you laughing about?" Dy asks, startled by her random outburst. 

“Did you— Did you not hear?” She is still grinning but now rubbing her neck. “That guy, Ned, said we are weird.” 

“How did you hear that?” Dy turns around to see them exit the cafeteria. 

“They were not standing close at all.” 

Jamie shrugs, or at least looks as if she would without moving her body. “If you are done with my lunch, we could go to the gym too. I’d like to let the new coach know I am not participating without everyone listening in.” 

Dyari nods and stuffs the rest of his meal into his mouth all at once. Jamie shakes her head and rolls her eyes in disbelief while slowly standing up and hitting the back of his head playfully so he almost spits the whole food out again. 

Jamie chuckles and mutters, “Dork.” She tries to grab her bag, but Dy jumps up and pulls it away while grinning widely at her. 

“You can’t wear a  _ back _ pack when your back is a literal mess.” 

She sighs, annoyed even though she agrees with him and walks out, knowing he will be right by her side. They enter the gym to see Ned and Peter talking to the new teacher, Coach Wilson. It looks like they know each other, they probably do. The Coach was blipped away five years ago and now came back just like them. 

They look over at Jamie and Dy, they both smile weirdly before introducing themselves. Jamie explains to the Coach that she can’t take part and after a little explaining, he lets her slide and goes into the gym while the three other teens stand in front of the locker rooms to wait on her. 

“Everything went well?” Dy asks and holds open the door to one of the rooms. 

Jamie nods and walks in without hesitation. Both Ned and Peter stare at her. 

“What is this locker room?” Ned asks confused, looking between the other two on each side of the one Jamie is standing in now. 

Dy shrugs. “They changed it about a year ago into a unisex locker room to be more inclusive and barely anyone ever uses it, we always do.” 

Peter's eyes widen as he rocks back and forth on his feet. “A— a unisex— unisex locker room?” His voice is shrill and louder than usual. 

“Are you okay, Peter?” Jamie asks, worried. “It’s just a locker room.” 

He nods quickly and doesn’t even stop until she interrupts him. 

“Do you wanna come in here? It’s usually just Dy and me.” She smiles genuinely and Peter slowly walks into the locker room looking around, Ned following him on his feet. 

“This is soooo cool Ned exclaims. “And it is actually not dirty in here.” 

Jamie and Dy both smile, knowing how they reacted when they first found out the school would do this. She sits down, looking at Dy like as if they would talk by only looking at each other. He quickly changes into his sports clothes and Ned too is getting ready. Peter just stands in front of an open locker, looking around nervously.

Jamie notices and smiles at him, “Hey Peter. It’s okay, we won’t judge or tell anyone.” 

Dy looks at her confused before he looks at Peter and sees his nervousness and understands what Jamie is talking about. 

Peter still looks very anxious, so she elaborates, “I do not identify as cisgender, I try not to question it too much, I just don’t label myself other than queer, maybe. When I told Dy at first, he went with me to buy a binder to wear whenever I feel like.” She makes a motion that tries to show her cutting off her breast, “like that.” She chuckles and Peter does too. 

Dy secretly gives her a thumbs up and she rolls her eyes at him (jokingly). She was just being honest. She looks away, same as Dyari, so Peter might be more comfortable changing and that is then what he does. 

“I am sorry, what does cisgender mean?” Ned asks, looking around confused. 

Dy laughs loudly and Jamie snickers, which turns to a laugh when Peter hits Ned. 

“How do you not know?” he asks. “I am trans, you are cis.” Peter adds, looking at Ned as if he were a stranger. 

Dy chimes in, Jamie remembers he asked the same question when she first started talking about gender identity. “Cisgender is when your gender identity corresponds with the sex you were assigned at birth. Transgender is an umbrella term for everyone who does not identify with the sex they were assigned to. I feel like I am a man and I was born a male, so I am cisgender.” He looks over at Peter and Jamie. “They are not.” 

“Oh, yes, I know Peter is trans since he identifies as a guy, but oh, wow, I am cisgender.” He chuckles. 

“Good to know the word for my gender identity.” 

Peter rolls his eyes and ties his shoe up like the last of them. He stands up and they walk into the gym hall, some of the students already being in there, waiting for the others. Dy leads Jamie over to the bleachers and gives her a black marker, knowing she would have forgotten one and has nothing else to do whilst in this period. 

She smiles at him and he leans down so she can give him a kiss on the cheek before running off towards the group of people. Jamie spends her time drawing her arm and hand, making it look skeleton-like. 

A sweaty Dyari jogs over at the end of the class, chuckling when she sees her arm. “Ah. the basic one.” 

“Basic one?” Jamie whines. “This is a piece of art.” 

“You mean just like you are, babe?” Dy smirks and Jamie’s hands clench, but she smiles right back. 

“You and I both know I would hunt your ass to the end of the world if I could right now.” 

“Yes, but you caaaaan’t, so deal with it.” He sticks his tongue out. 

Jamie slowly stands up and grabs his ear with her better shoulder and twists it. 

“Ey, ey, Jamie!” He yells, and she steps back, grinning at him sweetly. 

“I got what I wanted.” 

Dy groans and lets his shoulders hang down while walking back. “I do not understand why I spend my every waking and sleeping moment with you.” 

“It’s because you love me.” Jamie troubles with keeping up with him, so he slows his walking and messes with her hair gently. 

“Well, that is true, but I do not understand how you got me to do that” They both grin and walk into the locker room just to see the door closing after Ned and Peter. 

Jamie immediately notices the little note left on the bench and she reads it out loud to Dy while he quickly jumped under the shower. 

“ _We had to leave quickly, but I just wanted to say that I really enjoyed spending time with you two today. I hope this was not something that only happened for one day, I would love to get to know you two better, and I hope you feel the same way._ _  
_ _XOXO - Peter_ _  
___PS: Ned here, you two are weirdos, but I can only agree with what Peter said. ;-) ”

Jamie smiles and looks over to see shampoo dripping into Dyari’s eyes, and he swears under his breath before answering. “Yes, Peter seems really cute. Eh--” He rubs his eyes and Jamie chuckles. 

“You called him that twice today now. Though, I got to agree with you.” She lets him finish his shower and puts one earbud in her ear to listen to music. When he dresses again, she asks, “You wanna go get some coffee?” 

“Yes,” Dy mumbles while his shirt is covering his face. He throws their backpacks over his shoulders and takes her hand, walking to the car in which she unplugs her earbuds to connect her phone to the audio of the car. “Where to? Lava Java?” 

“Duh,” She responds and puts the volume louder. 

They get their regular orders before driving to their secret spot, which is the roof of an abandoned warehouse. There were a lot of abandoned houses in the last five years. This is just one of those. Dy carefully helps Jamie up the stairs. They found a key to the warehouse years ago, and on the roof she looks out to the skyline of Manhattan and smiles. They have made this into their cozy little comfort zone years ago, added cool lights and a safe box with chairs, and a lot of blankets and candles. They sit down on their chairs and Dy puts a pillow on the backrest to support her. 

“So… tell me what happened. First of those scars on your belly and left shoulder, they looked almost healed but— I saw you last week, you had nothing there. How--” He turns to her confused, and she smiles sadly at him. 

“I don’t really know either. It has been so much, Dy,” she whispers. “On… On Sunday evening when everyone came back… You know my week wasn’t the greatest, and you probably also remember what I told you about where my parents where when they disappeared?” 

He nods and takes her hand, stroking his thumb over it. 

“Eh, yeah, well, I was in my room at the time, so when my dad just appeared in there I was so confused. I— He probably was too, but most of all he was still angry. He didn’t like what he was seeing so… What I did.” Jamie puts two of her fingers over her stomach, pointing at her half healed injury. 

“Fuck,” Dy whispers, and Jamie continues. 

“So, I ran out.” She breathes in deeply and sits up, controlling her emotions now. “It was storming and cold, and I have just been stabbed.” She chuckles and looks at him coldly “But, I was able to run, so I did. I reached a crossroad and fell down I think… yeah, I did. Weird thing is that no one was outside. Half of the population came back, but no one was anywhere. I looked around and then that was it. I felt pain. A lot of it. I felt worse than dying, and all I could see was light until I passed out and woke up in my room.” 

Dyari’s expression changes from a worried to a confused face. 

“I don’t know either.” Jamie answers the question he asked with his face. “I woke up clean, as if I have never been outside and nothing has happened. But my parents were back, the Blip was real.” She closes her eyes and lays back, Dy goes through her hair with one hand. “In the bathroom I saw this,” she waves her hands over her body. “For the first time, too. I thought I maybe had a blackout, but for those gashes to heal as much as they did, not only one day would be enough. And then I noticed this, too.” She points to her neck. “I think when I felt this intense pain in the crossroad I might have been hit by lighting.” She laughs a little, “I know it sounds weird, but it looks like it. And I also have an exit point of the lightning, close to my foot, just like Aang.” 

Dy smiles and shakes his head at her reference. He is going with the vibe she sends out. “Maybe, we should rather google to find out if that could really be done by a lightning strike.” 

Jamie hums to Dyari’s suggestion as a response and adds to clear up, “The burn you took care of isn’t from that though. I didn’t have it before, I actually woke up today burning… it was weird, and it happened, I guess.” 

"It just happened…" he repeats slowly. "You do know how weird that is, right?" 

Jamie nods with her eyes closed. "Yea, but what are we supposed to do about it now? If I go anywhere they would ask how it happened and I won’t take our father away from my sister right after she got him back.” 

Dy sighs and adds to what he said before. “I meant, how you healed so much in only one night. How you caught on fire too, you barely light candles in your room, it couldn’t be that.” 

Jamie opens her eyes and narrows them at him. “If it really is something  _ supernatural,  _ that was what you were trying to say, right? Then it would be the most stupid thing to go somewhere to look for help. In the end, I would land in Area 51.” She rolls her eyes before looking out to the statue of liberty. “Freedom wouldn’t be one of my rights then anymore” 

Dyari fully turns around to face her, “ _ If _ it really is something supernatural, then we need to talk to someone more then! Who says it has to be the police or Government we are going to talk to?” He declares loudly, it is obvious this is really important to him. 

“Yeah sure, so I will just whip out my phone, call The Avengers, and tell them, ‘oh, yeah, so, nothing supernatural really happened, but we think it is supernatural!’'' she looks at him in disbelief and continues with her sarcasm. “I agree it would totally work.” 

Dy sighs and gives in. “Okay, not yet, but if something,  _ anything, _ abnormal happens - you will tell me and we will find a way to… actually talk to the Avengers, I guess. I don’t know who else we could turn to.” 

“Probably because there is no one else to turn to.” She sighs, just like he did before she remembers. 

“Wait, your dad is back! I need to meet him,” Dy chuckles and nods. “You noticed that earlier Mum told him all about you and Willow already. She would have come right away, but she figured your parents would also be there and didn't want to intrude.” 

“Oh my gods, what did she tell him?” Jamie’s eyes widen, thinking back to the time when Philipa first came to their house and started to take care of the sisters. They were a mess. 

“Only the good things, of course,” Dyari smiles at her, trying to be reassuring, but Jamie just chuckles. 

“Oh, you so mean, he will be disappointed when he meets me?” He rolls his eyes and looks out at the skyline of Manhattan. 

“He knows you two are like family for us, that my mum looks at you as her children.” Jamie smiles at him and takes his hand. 

“Tomorrow?” he nods and leans back in his chair, watching the sun set. 

Dy drops Jamie off at her house before it turns fully dark and she quietly opens the door, hoping her sister is already sleeping. 

“Where have you been?” Her father asks and Jamie’s whole body tenses up immediately. 

“Out.” she replies dryly. “Where is Wi--” 

“I asked you a question and I expect an answer.” Her father demands, blocking her way with his broad shoulders. She can see her mother behind him, sitting on the couch in the living room, stroking her little sister's hair who is sleeping in her lap. 

“And I said I was out.” She looks him right back into his eyes as he raises his hand, shaking a little as if he is hardly trying to stop himself from hitting her - of course only because her mom asked him not to. 

“Up, to your room,” he groans and jamie smiles at him sweetly. 

“That was the plan,” What he doesn’t notice is that she trembles with every single step she takes. 

She goes upstairs and looks at her mother to tell her to bring Willow into her bed with only eye contact. She nods and Jamie then quickly locks herself in her room. In her room, she breathes in deeply first, putting her music on to relax herself, and sits down on her bed, sighing. Her eyes fall closed but she forces them open again. 

Looking around her room she notices she needs to clean soon, again, her table under the inclined window being a total mess and some of her clothes just sprawled over her room. Her lamp fills the room in a calming orange, the wooden floor creaking under her feet when she stands up again to walk into the bathroom. She finishes quickly, but changing into different clothes will be hard, so she decides to only change her pants before she lays down carefully, swiftly falling asleep. 


End file.
